DISEASES OF THE HEART IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS 
345 
The occurrence of hypertrophy of the right half of the heart 
is rare, and is restricted to the ventricle and auricle. 
The eccentric hypertrophy always results in enlargement. It 
consists of the passive enlargement, mostly of one part of the 
heart, accompanied by attenuation of its walls. The muscular 
substance is now normal, now soft, easily lacerated, fatty degen¬ 
erated, pale, or of a dirty yellow color. It can attack the right 
auricle and ventricle. If it occurs at the same time with the 
eccentric hypertrophy of the left ventricle, the heart exhibits a 
considerable enlargement of its circumference, and the walls, 
which are relaxed, collapse quickly after the emptying of the 
blood. 
Simple expansion is an enlargement of the cavities of the 
heart with unchanged thickness of its walls. This condition can 
only be conceived with a relative hypertrophy of the walls of the 
heart, since otherwise, in consequence of the expansion of the walls 
of the heart, these would necessarily grow thinner. The larger 
the hypertrophied heart, the more abnormal will be its position. 
Occasionally it hangs toward the left thorax, often nearly diag¬ 
onal, with the base toward the right, the apex toward the left, 
touching the lobes of the lungs and the diaphragm. 
Texture, consistency and color vary considerably. The color 
is dark brownish-red, the consistency often perceptibly increased, 
the texture, however, only apparently normal. The color of the 
suffering ventricle is of a murky blue, running into the yellow. 
This color appears either in spots or through the whole diameter. 
At the same time the consistency is modified. The wall of the 
heart is resistant and firm; the muscle, which has lost its former 
solidity, becomes brittle and tender. The change of texture ex¬ 
isting thereby is regarded as a form of fatty degeneration, which 
often appears as an accompanying disorder of the hypertrophy 
and develops in the already hypertrophied heart, and then pro¬ 
motes expansion, also spontaneous bursting of the part of the 
heart concerned. Purulent infiltrations are found quite fre¬ 
quently in the muscle and on the surface of the enlarged part of 
the heart, which are regarded as residue of a previously existing 
inflammation. 
